


Of Socks and Mirrors

by Fandoms_are_my_lifestyle



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mirror of Erised, Socks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 19:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17189393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_are_my_lifestyle/pseuds/Fandoms_are_my_lifestyle
Summary: The morning after the first night Albus Dumbledore stays with Gellert Grindelwald, he forgets his socks.





	Of Socks and Mirrors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aprilmallick](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aprilmallick/gifts).



> As always, for [doodledevil](https://www.instagram.com/doodledevil/) and [April](https://mostlystuckony.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> I love you both.

The morning after the first night Albus Dumbledore stays with Gellert Grindelwald, he forgets his socks.

Gellert was still waking up, sleep clouding his eyes as Albus frantically scampers around the room, collecting discarded clothing and trying not to fall as he tugged on shoes. He blinked blearily up at Albus and Albus was almost tempted to stay.

Almost.

But he had a responsibility to his family so he leaves, and it's not until he's gotten back home and shucked off his shoes that he realizes he's forgotten his socks with Gellert.

The next time he sees his boyfriend, the other boy is holding his socks - (freshly laundered, thanks Aunt Bathilda!) - and hands them back to Albus with a grin.

“Looking for these?” He asks Albus, looking up at the taller boy through his russet eyelashes, and Albus can't help but kiss him. 

Albus is a naturally absent minded person, so this is not the last time he forgets his socks. Gellert takes to carrying around an extra pair in anticipation of Albus needing them, and Albus - despite his embarrassment every time - ends up utilizing them more often than not. 

It becomes a joke. It becomes their  _ thing _ .

And it's good; it's good and it's theirs.

That is, until  _ them _ and _ theirs  _ ends in heated words and fault and blame and flashing green lights.

* * *

  
Albus Dumbledore visits Gellert Grindelwald in Nurmengard Castle exactly once. 

He goes, unsure if he's making the right decision by doing so but unwilling to turn his back forever on the man he loves without one final goodbye; He goes and stares at the heterochromatic eyes of the man he loves in the jail cell that Grindelwald resides in as a result of Dumbledore's choices, and he doesn't know what to say to him so he just stands silently until Gellert speaks. 

“Why are you here, Albus?” The gaunt man asks him, and Albus doesn't know how to answer. There are no words for the feelings threatening to choke him.

“I'm sorry,” he says finally. “I should never have come.”

Albus turns to leave, already mourning the man lying on the floor behind him, only to be stopped by a weak “Wait!”

Gellert looks up at him from his position on the floor and then pulls himself painfully to stand. He smiles at Albus and for a second they are not two men in their 50s, divided by bars and beliefs; instead, they are both 18 again, young and stupid and in love.

“You've forgotten something,” Gellert says softly, and from some pocket of his robes he produces a pair of socks. They're woolen and look handmade, painstakingly and lovingly crafted by the hands of a radical and a murderer. 

Gellert pokes them through the bars of his cell and they fall at Albus's feet - Albus's feet which are sockless, because of course they are. Albus kneels to recover them and stands, drinking in the sight of the man he still loves even after all this time.

He opens his mouth to speak, but no words come him so he settles for nodding and tucking the socks into his pocket before turning and leaving Nurmengard forever.

* * *

_ Later, a young boy with green eyes and a scar on his forehead looks up at Albus and innocently asks him what he sees when he looks in the mirror. _

_ With a twinkle in his eye that he doesn't quite feel and a voice light with forced levity, Albus replies, “Me? I see myself holding a warm pair of woolen socks.” _

_ It's only half a lie. _

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr: [fandoms-are-my-lifestyle](http://fandoms-are-my-lifestyle.tumblr.com/)


End file.
